Brazil crossed, Friday, June 19, the mark of a million cases of contaminations with Covid-19, sign of an epidemic which always progresses in a world which the deconfinement makes "dangerous", according to the WHO.

Before Brazil, only the United States had passed this symbolic threshold of a million cases. The Latin American giant will also probably cross the 50,000 mark after reaching 48,954 deaths on Friday. It thus becomes the second country where coronavirus kills the most in the world.

Since the beginning of June, Brazil, the new global epicenter of the pandemic, has recorded more new infections (518,000) and deaths (19,000) than any other country in the world, according to a compilation by AFP. 

Mexico slows down its deconfinement

If the virus slows its progression in Europe, where deconfinement continues, it continues to spread inexorably in Latin America.

The toll of the epidemic in Mexico on Friday exceeded the threshold of 20,000 dead, announced the government, which also reported more than 5,000 new cases of contamination in a single day. The authorities in Mexico City have therefore delayed for a week the resumption in the capital of economic activities, initially scheduled for Monday, in an attempt to reduce the number of contaminations and lower hospitalizations. 

Colombia, meanwhile, recorded the record figure of 95 dead in a single day on Friday, suddenly crossing the 2,000 mark since the start of the epidemic.

Record of contamination in Morocco

It is still far from receding elsewhere in the world. Morocco has reported a record increase in the number of infections with 539 new cases, the highest daily toll in the kingdom since the announcement of the first patient in March. This did not prevent the Moroccan government from announcing on Friday a further relaxation of the restrictions in force since mid-March.

This is what worries the World Health Organization. The world has entered a "dangerous phase," WHO warned on Friday.

"The virus continues to spread quickly, it remains fatal and most people remain exposed," warned WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that his services had identified more than 150,000 new cases on Thursday, one record on a single day since the start of the epidemic.

Warning signs in Italy, spread in Ukraine

The figure of 456,000 dead (and more than 8.5 million cases) was reached on Friday, according to official statistics collected by AFP, but which the experts consider largely underestimated. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus admitted that "many people are obviously tired of staying at home. Countries are eager to reopen their society and their economy", but the end of containment or restriction of mobility measures "brings the world into a new and dangerous phase, "he warned. 

Europe, in full deconfinement, is particularly concerned. Italian health authorities have also called Friday for "caution" after observing last week "warning signals related to the transmission" of Covid-19, especially in Rome, indicating that "the circulation of the virus is still important ".

On the other side of the Alps, the French government announced on the night of Friday to Saturday the reopening of cinemas and casinos on Monday, adding that the stadiums will once again welcome the public from July 11 without however exceeding 5,000 spectators.

This is far from being the case in Ukraine, where tighter confinement will have to be imposed in part of the country, the spread of the coronavirus accelerating since the lifting on May 11 of numerous restrictions.

With AFP

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